NEW ORLEANS, La.-Big plays and long touchdowns were the themes of the day for the Tulane University football team as the Green Wave completed Day 18 of preseason drills with their final double session of the fall Tuesday at the Westfeldt Practice Facility.

The Green Wave went through an 18-period practice in the morning and held a 75-play scrimmage in the latter half of the afternoon session, which was highlighted by six long scoring plays - two each by the offense, defense and special teams.

"I just wanted to see guys under pressure and see who was going to make some plays," new head coach Bob Toledo said. "As I told (the team), right now is time to start narrowing things down, play with the guys who are going to be playing in the game, and start executing. So today was really the last day for them to show us on video what they're all about.

"I think there were a lot of good individual plays. I thought Jeremy Williams made a couple of real nice plays and our running backs continued to run hard. I think our defense is playing with speed. They're running to the ball and giving good effort."

Defense dominated the early part of Tuesday afternoon's scrimmage, which included four pass break-ups - including one by Harris in the endzone - and seven sacks among 11 tackles for loss. Junior cornerback Josh Lumar had one of the better days by any defender with a pair of passes defensed and a half a tackle for loss.

True freshman defensive tackle Justin Adams led the Green Wave with three sacks for 15 yards lost while sophomore defensive end Logan Kelley and rookie linebacker Lamont Simmons each had a pair. Wilson added a pair of tackles for loss, including a strip of sophomore running back Andre Anderson which he returned for a score on the final play of the scrimmage.

"I think they're grasping the defense that (defensive coordinator) Thom Kaumeyer has incorporated," Toledo said of his defensive unit. "I think they're playing hard. We have to not give up big plays, we have to continue to line up correctly and tackle well. If we can do that, we'll have a pretty good defense.

"Justin Adams came in and he's just a true freshman, but he's one of the strongest football players on our team, if you can believe that. He's also a track athlete too, so he can run extremely well. He's very quick. He came here during the summer and worked out with our players, and it's shown. He is head and shoulders above most of the freshmen."

Junior quarterback Scott Elliott threw for 128 yards, completing eight-of-17 passes, with one touchdown and one interception. Williams paced the Green Wave with three receptions for an even 100 yards and a touchdown. Agers had the other offensive touchdown for Tulane on Tuesday, hauling in a 10-yard scoring strike from fellow rookie Joe Kemp.

With Tulane beginning classes on Wednesday, Aug. 29, the Green Wave will begin their daily in-school routine tomorrow with practice slated for 2:50 p.m. At the conclusion of Wednesday's practice (approximately 5:15 p.m.), Tulane will hold its annual Fan Day, which will feature food vendors, inflatables and a live broadcast by 104.1 FM. Green Wave fans will have an opportunity to meet the student-athletes from all three fall sport teams - football, volleyball and cross country - and posters will be available for autographing.

The Tulane Ticket Office and Sports Shop will be open during Fan Day festivities, during which time student vouchers for the Tulane/LSU football game will be available.

The Green Wave open the 2007 season on Saturday, Sept. 8, when Tulane takes on Mississippi State at 6 p.m. in the Louisiana Superdome. Season tickets remain on sale through the Tulane Athletics Ticket Office. For ticket information, visit the ticket office on the first floor of the James W. Wilson, Jr. Center, by phone at 504-861-WAVE or on-line at www.TulaneGreenWave.com.